More than two in five adults believe that the housing market continues to be a serious problem, according to a recent survey from the MacArthur Foundation on people’s attitude toward the housing crisis.
(source: MacArthur Foundation: click image for larger view)
The survey polled a sample of 1,355 people in April 2014.
“While economists and housing experts say that the housing crisis is behind us, large proportions of the American people are not feeling the relief. Very high proportions of the public continue to believe that we are still in the midst of the housing crisis or that the worst is yet to come,” the report stated.
And this is not the only negative news for the market.
Two-thirds of the public believes that it is less likely today than it was 20 or 30 years ago for a family to build equity and wealth through homeownership.
But it is not all bad. Some indicators suggest that the American public’s views about the housing crisis are shifting slightly toward the positive.
“We see an uptick in the proportion of the public who believe that the housing crisis is behind us and a decrease in the proportion who characterize the housing market as a serious problem,” the report said.
“However, even with these shifts, concerns about housing continue to outweigh optimism, and the public has a real sense that affordable housing is a challenge for many Americans,” it added.
(source: MacArthur Foundation: click image for larger view)